List of serial killers by number of victims

A serial killer is defined as a person who kills three or more people, in three or more separate events over a period of time. There are gaps of time in between the killings, which may comprise of a few hours up to many years. This list shows serial killers in order of how many victims they had. In many cases, the exact number of victims assigned to a serial killer is not exactly known, and even if that person is convicted of a few, there can be the possibility that he/she killed many more.

The second column in the table states the number of victims that were definitely assigned to that particular serial killer. The third column states the number of other possible victims that the killer could also have murdered. Some of these crimes are yet to be solved, but have been included because they are notorious or clearly the work of a serial killer, despite nobody being caught.

NameCountryProven Victims (either in court, by detailed confession, or according to most scholars)Possible VictimsNotesThug BehramIndia0931from 1791 to 1830 – He confessed to 125 murders, and reported being present at 987.Elizabeth BáthoryHungary100–200200–600Born 1560, died 1614; accused of murdering about 600 people, but there was no public trial.Luis GaravitoColombia195200–6700+Targeted young boys, arrested in 1987.Pedro LópezColombia110300Targeted girls, arrested in 1980.Harold ShipmanUnited Kingdom15–215250+Targeted his hospital patients, many of whom were elderly women. Caught when Kathleen Grundy died suddenly in his care, and her will had been amended to benefit him. Killed patients with lethal injections of diamorphine.Henry Lee LucasUnited States112–200Born 1936, died 2001. Confessed to about 3,000 murders, convicted of 11, though some were dubious.Gilles de RaisFrance140140+Testimony gained under torture and confession under threat, as was customary.John Wesley HardinUnited States103 (?)From 1868 to 1877 – claimed in autobiography to have committed 44 killings.William Preston LongleyUnited States70From 1868 to 1877 – claimed to have committed 32 killings.H. H. HolmesUnited States19Confessed to 27 murders, though some of his "victims" were still alive.Johann Otto HochUnited States115 (?)Active from 1888/1891 to 1904. Hanged for 1 murder in Chicago, 1906.Billy GohlUnited States240 (alleged)Alleged to have committed 40 murders. Convicted of 2 in 1913.Carl PanzramUnited States43From 1920 to 1928 – claimed to have committed over 22 killings.Hu WanlinChina196196Sentenced to 15 years on 1 October 2000.John Bodkin AdamsUnited Kingdom0163+Controversially acquitted of one murder in 1957; suspected in 163 others.Randy Steven KraftUnited States1667–100Convicted on 15 counts of murder; left a cryptic list of 65 murders.Ted BundyUnited States30–36100+Estimated to have killed more than 100.John S. WilliamsUnited States117+1921 trial – found guilty. Only white man convicted for killing Black peons between 1866–1966.Andrei ChikatiloSoviet Union/Russia5356Convicted of the murder of 52 women and children between 1978 and 1990.Anatoly OnoprienkoUkraine5252+Convicted of 52 murders between 1989 and 1996.Ahmad SuradjiIndonesia4242Admitted to murdering 42 girls and women between 1986 and 1997.Zodiac KillerUnited States537Targeted young couples, was never apprehended.Moninder Singh PandherIndia030+Investigation underway after discovery of remains in 2006.Gary RidgwayUnited States4971–90Known as the Green River Killer; confessed to killing 48 women.Belle GunnessUnited States4040+Of La Porte, Indiana; possibly Los Angeles, California.Charles CullenUnited States29400+Nurse in New Jersey and Pennsylvania; murdered patients between 1988 and 2003.John Wayne GacyUnited States3345+The “Killer Clown”; buried bodies under his Chicago home.Joseph Paul FranklinUnited States820Confessed to 20 murders and several attempted murders.Jeffrey DahmerUnited States1717Cannibalized some victims; kept body parts in freezer.Dennis NilsenUnited Kingdom1515Picked up young men in London between 1978–1982, dismembered them.Herbert MullinUnited States1313Claimed divine voices ordered him to kill to prevent earthquakes.Kaspars PetrovsLatvia1338+Strangled elderly residents of Riga in 2003.Fred West and Rosemary WestUnited Kingdom1212+Targeted young females; buried victims around their home.John Wayne GloverAustralia1212Targeted elderly women.Edmund KemperUnited States1010Killed grandparents and co-eds; known as the “Co-ed Killer.”Dennis RaderUnited States1010Known as the BTK Killer; active in Wichita, Kansas, 1974–1991.Ivan MilatAustralia77Backpacker murders.Christopher WorrellAustralia77Died before capture.James MillerAustralia67Sentenced to life imprisonment for 6 murders.Robert PicktonCanada649+Charged with at least 6 murders, possibly over 29.Kristen GilbertUnited States55+Nurse who murdered patients; sentenced to life.Jack the RipperUnited Kingdom54–16Identity never discovered; preyed on prostitutes in Whitechapel, 1888.Ian Brady and Myra HindleyUnited Kingdom55The “Moors Murderers”; abducted and killed children.“Suffolk Ripper”United Kingdom55–14Convicted of five prostitute murders in Ipswich, 2006.Peter WoodcockCanada44Sexual sadist; killed children in Toronto, 1950s.Lam Kor-wanHong Kong44Taxi driver; kept body parts in parents’ home.Eddie LeonskiAustralia33“Brownout Strangler”; hanged in 1942.Danny RollingUnited States55+“Gainesville Ripper”; murdered 5 students in 1990.

Category:Lists of people